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We exited the plane in Amsterdam and were immediately in the departure terminal of Schiphol Airport. We got onto 2 moving walkways and went down to our connection gate, E6. We passed gift shops with stereotypical Dutch gifts – tulip bulbs, wooden shoes, and windmills. There were LCD monitors with various informational placards, one of which was a cute illustration of a cat wearing a name tag, advising people to make sure that their pets are labeled. At this point I was overtired and thought it was very cute so I photographed it. There was an equally amusing sign which had an illustration of a ham on a luggage cart that said "Bacteria knows no borders". Indeed.
We could see our plane through the window, a KLM MD-11 which was for some reason named “Maria Callas”. As it got closer to our scheduled 11:20 am departure time, we all had to go through security at this gate and progress into a secure gate area, which was very warm as the sun beat through the windows. Departure time came and went, and we were all still seated in this little room. Then the flight crew drew the blinds so that we could no longer see the airplane. We could hear sirens out on the tarmac. What was going on? They announced that there was a “technical difficulty” with the plane and they needed to delay the boarding process. We sat in the secure departure area and listened to the announcements: “So and so, you are delaying your flight. Please board immediately, or we will be forced to offload your luggage,” a woman’s voice said, a little too cheerfully. At around noon, we were finally able to board, and we could see what the delay had been. They had needed to re-arrange the seating configuration so that they could create a bed area for an ill man who was on oxygen. Craig and I were seated in the center section, in 2 seats right at the front of the economy cabin. We put our bags in the overhead and had plenty of legroom, which would mean a comfortable 7 hour flight to Delhi. We sent Mukul a text saying that we were an hour late taking off. They fed us a delicious lunch of chicken in a yellow curry sauce, rice, a Thai salad, a warm fresh dinner roll, and a delicious lemon soufflé. When they handed out the arrival paperwork, we were also given H1N1 screening forms. We had to indicate who we were, where we were seated on the plane, if we had had contact with anyone at home who had H1N1, if we have a cough, etc. Our friend Richa who is originally from Varanasi said that her sister just visited India and had to go through H1N1 screening. We wondered how much this would slow down the arrival process. Two hours before arrival, they fed us a “snack”: a piece of quiche, a salad, a piece of banana cake, and a fruit cup. They certainly kept us well-fed! Then they went through the cabin spraying toxic-smelling disinfectant. Craig and I tried to avoid coughing from the fumes, lest we be mistaken for H1N1 flu patients! We landed in Delhi at 10:40 pm, but there was a plane occupying our gate, so we weren’t able to actually dock until 11:05. Due to our location at the very front of coach, we were some of the first off the plane. First stop was H1N1 clearance. We were sent to a table where medical screeners wearing face masks collected our forms and gave us a visual once-over to convince themselves that we weren’t sick. Once cleared, we headed to immigration, where there was hardly any line for foreigners. We went to the baggage carousel and our bags were some of the first off the plane as well! By 11:30 we were ready to leave the airport. Mukul had told us that he would be waiting for us on the left as we came out the airport doors. There were many people holding signs who had come to meet people, but a quick glance and we saw that Mukul wasn’t among them. We turned around and Craig immediately saw him sitting on a bench talking to a colleague. We went right over to say hello. He was startled, and amazed at how quickly we had made it through. He hadn’t expected us so quickly, as our flight crew hadn’t even emerged yet. It was great to see Mukul again and it was so nice to have him meet us at the airport. We all commented that none of us believed the other had changed at all since our last meeting. We wheeled the luggage to the curb and our driver Ravi loaded it into the vehicle. Today is Gandhi Jayanti, a somber holiday which commemorates The birthday of Mahatma Gandhi (this year marks his 140th birthday). As we drove through Delhi, Mukul pointed out a lit statue of Gandhi during the Salt March. There were a lot of new roads and bridges since ouir last time in the city two years ago. Mukul explained that these were constructed in preparation for the Commonwealth Games, which would be held in Delhi in October of 2010. Ravi drove us to the Hotel Metropolitan. We went into the lobby and Mukul helped to get us checked in. We were in room 412, and he brought us some strings of sweet jasmine flowers to welcome us. We were originally scheduled for a 10 am flight to Varanasi in the morning, but due to the fact that we arrived at the hotel at around midnight, Mukul had thoughtfully changed the booking to a later flight. Now we wouldn’t need to be at the airport so early, and could instead get a good night’s sleep to fend off the jetlag. We fell asleep quite quickly in our comfortable air conditioned jasmine-scented hotel room. |
 Gate E6 Schiphol Airport  Your cat must have a nametag  The Maria Callas  Strings of jasmine flowers from Mukul |
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